


after the sun the rain; after the rain the sun

by reconstrictions



Category: K-pop, Nine Muses
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-03
Updated: 2014-02-03
Packaged: 2018-01-11 01:33:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,864
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1167024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/reconstrictions/pseuds/reconstrictions
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Drabbles for Nine Muses; all set within the same AU universe based off Fullmetal Alchemist (FMA). Arranged in rough chronological order.</p>
            </blockquote>





	after the sun the rain; after the rain the sun

**Author's Note:**

> Unfamiliar with FMA? All you need to know is 1) there is alchemy, a metaphysical science/mystical art of manipulating and altering matter by using natural energy. 2) To carry out alchemy, one draws transmutation circles with specific runes and polygons; these are generally learnt and manipulated through much study. 3) Using alchemy to revive the dead will have Nasty Consequences. 4) The main means of transportation between areas is steam train. 5) There are metal automotive prostheses (that can be moved at will like a natural appendages) called automail. 6) The form of government is a stratocracy - a military government.
> 
> I think that is all?
> 
> No stagenames because wtf is E U AERIN in this universe.
> 
> Originally posted to [dreamwidth](http://ddoreureu.dreamwidth.org/530.html), with additional notes.

**Sera » Moving day**

Sera's always dreamt of the big cities; of leaving her little provincial town. _It's a magical world out there,_ she'd thought, wistfully gazing at the railway tracks that wound over hills and valleys to disappear into the distance. _I want to go exploring._

And now, she has the chance. Even if it seems less like a wonderful opportunity to carve out her own adventure, and more like a whiny, clingy burden of a new charge-

"Unni, are you done packing? Eunji-unni's pouting that we'll miss the train and Hyemi says we'll have to wait a week for the next one. And Hyemin-unni is trying to stuff Dolce into her luggage again but I think Hyunjoo-unni can talk her out of it..."

Make that multiple new charges, and not just one. _Like herding cats,_ Sera thinks with despair as she sends up a prayer, shutting the lid of her suitcase and fastening the locks while Minha silkily prattles on. She was a fool to ever think she'd need the great cities, when keeping an eye out for these five is enough adventure for three lifetimes.

(184 words.)

**Sungah » Path not taken**

There is no science more real than alchemy. Sungah sketches out equations in circles and hexagrams, memorises the precise molecular makeup of iron and steel, and bends seemingly immutable objects to her will.

 _See? Look at what the gyopo girl can do- all of you slackers, what do I hire you for?_

Sungah forces herself to crack a smile at the good-natured ribbing of her supervisor at the military office. She supposes she should be glad to have a job at all - peacetime is never kind to alchemists seeking employment - but every time he singles her out is a reminder of _different_ ; a misspent girlhood travelling from one region to another, wherever Father's job demanded. Only these transmutation circles and symbols have remained constants, far realer than transient bonds of friends and family. 

_Father would be proud of me_ , Sungah reminds herself as she seals up a crack in the turret of a tank. She'll have to write him soon, before the end of the month. He still doesn't know of her new roommate, and his fur allergy will be a headache should he visit without warning again.

Living with another person is... interesting. Hyuna-ssi spends most of her days doing research and writing, and Sungah is still too much of a stranger to inquire the details. But Hyuna-ssi is kind and considerate with her share of chores and rent, and never complains when Sungah returns to their shared apartment late at night; neither does she comment when Sungah borrows Hoya to pet and play with. (And if Sungah comes home to Hyuna-ssi talking to her cats- well, she knows to repay the favour with a bland smile and offer to share supper rather than ask.)

Maybe they could be friends, Sungah muses. A little less time to herself, more spent instead with someone who knows her better than an acquaintance... Sungah smiles at the thought.

(318 words.)

**Kyungri » Watch where you're going**

Kyungri is ready; more than ready to stumble into her apartment and fall into bed. She can think about a shower in the morning when she's too busy rushing through her routine to care about the iciness of the water or the suspicious brown patch that seems to be creeping over more and more of the bathroom tiles every time she pays attention to it. Even her sofa, with its lumpy cushions and patchy fabric, will be a blessing after a fourteen-hour shift-

"Excuse me- Oh. Oh god." 

-but there's coffee dripping down her blouse and pencil skirt; Kyungri's _white blouse and week-old pencil skirt_. Torn between hysterical laughter and righteous outrage, Kyungri is still perusing her mental catalogue of divine vengeance, her sleep-deprived brain too slow to react.

"...Kyungri?" Her head snaps up from the spreading stain at the sound of her name, gasped under a breath. 

Later, Kyungri will remember that _Sera's_ the dumbass; she's the one who gapes like a stunned mullet at every unexpected turn. But right now Kyungri is too busy remembering how to breathe, with arms tightly circling her waist and a soft body pressed against her.

(193 words.)

**Hyuna » Step by step**

Hyuna wriggles her toes, gingerly testing the joints of her knees as she sits at the edge of the bed, metallic feet just barely brushing the floorboards.

"These will work?" she demands with suspicion. If Sera didn't know her so well, she wouldn't have called the edge in her voice 'hope'. As it is, she smiles and offers her hands for Hyuna to take.

"Why don't you try them out?" A curl of her fingertips beckons Hyuna forward. "C'mon, don't you trust my work? I'll catch you if you stumble."

Hyuna huffs, sliding towards the edge of the bed and allowing her new feet to make contact with the floor. The wooden grain doesn't give; she imagines she can feel the slide of her soles against polished wood if she concentrates. 

A deep breath. And Hyuna stands proud- if her stance is a little shaky, it's okay. Sera's arms are still outstretched to catch her.

(155 words.)

**Hyemi » Out of sight, out of mind**

There is a method to every madness Pyo Hyemi undertakes. It has yet to fail, keeping her out of any serious trouble so far, and so she never minds undertaking the extra pains for what they're worth.

But this is a new low. Literally. Hyemi holds her breath as two pairs of feet stumble into her line of vision, black rubber slippers and scuffed boots all that she can see from her vantage point.

_Park Minha's idea to sneak in. She said she'd keep a look out for Sera-unni. Park Minha is the problem. Park Minha I will fillet you into pizza toppings and feed the pieces to Hoya and Moya ..._

Maybe diving under the couch in her panic wasn't such a great idea. Realisation is creeping under Hyemi's skin; her vision may be limited but she can hear perfectly fine, and that includes the muffled 'thump' of the weight from two bodies landing onto the couch. 

Hyemi stuffs her fingers into her ears at the first moan, and prays that the couch doesn't collapse on top of her.

(179 words.)

**Erin » I have no idea why we are friends**

Hyemin is fifteen when Sera's grandfather takes her in as a student. Sera is delighted to have a friend, someone who'll be just as passionate as she is about size six Garfiel wrenches and perfecting the procedure to successfully install an elbow joint, but it takes only ten months before Hyemin starts missing classes, armed with some weak excuse or another. It doesn't take much longer before she stops showing up at all. 

There's no particular reason why. She just doesn't feel like going, that's all.

The next time Hyemin sees Sera is at the funeral, a year later. She's the only one seated in the area for former students - there should have been five others, but Hyemin heard they'd sent their regrets and unavailability, too busy with work in the cities to return home. And Hyemin- she'd been fond of the kindly old man even before he was her teacher, and she thinks she isn't _that_ terrible a person that her own shame would deter her from paying her respects.

Everything considered, Hyemin thinks she has every reason to be confused when Sera takes the empty seat next to hers, not saying a word for the whole hour she sits there.

Stranger still, when they somehow drift together into the same circle over the subsequent months. Something about Hyunjoo and Eunji and caramel pancakes; it's the one story that Hyunjoo still refuses to tell Hyemin no matter how much she pesters. Hyemin has no reason to stay, but neither is there one to leave. She's older now; she feels older and _knows_ she should be wiser, and the thought of repeated irresponsibility makes her squirm.

"...why?" Hyemin asks, when Sera gathers their group with an offer and five train tickets. She doesn't have to say more for Sera to know it isn't the same question asked by Eunji.

"You came back." Sera's gaze is steady, and warm. She presses the ticket into Hyemin's hand, holding it for a moment before letting go. "You came back and stayed."

(339 words.)

**Eunji » Vice**

"You shouldn't eat so many sweets."

The bag of chocolates is plucked from Eunji's hands before she manages to protest, whisked away to the end of the couch where Kyungri sits. Eunji can only glare, immobilised in place by a lapful of white cat. She never has the heart to disrupt Moya's sleep anymore, not since seeing how Hyuna plays with them.

"Chocolates!" Sera exclaims from behind, and it's Kyungri's turn to lose her spoils. Eunji beckons with a finger, and it's her turn to smirk - now she has the chocolates _and_ Sera snuggling up against her, and what can Kyungri say to that?

(105 words.)

**Minha » Where the hell did you learn that?**

An earthquake strikes the evening they celebrate Sungah's birthday at a restaurant, and Minha saves them all from the ceiling caving over their heads.

"You've never said you know alchemy." Hyemi doesn't even try to hide the accusation with a question. Minha understands she's never been good with sugarcoated words; it stings anyway. 

"My dad taught me. Just... just a little bit. And I studied with books..."

Hyemi doesn't say anything. Hyemi's gaze slides away to look out the window of their shared room, lips faintly pursed and the hint of a frown between her brows. Twice she glances at Minha, only to look away again.

Minha waits. 

The silence continues, unbroken until Sera knocks on the door to let them know it's their turn to use the bathroom. It's Hyemi's turn to go last today, but Minha doesn't protest when Hyemi gets up from the bed, pajamas in hand.

"Even Sungah-unni couldn't do it as fast." is what Hyemi quietly says before she leaves the room.

 _Liar._ Minha hears. _You lie._

(172 words.)

**Sem » So, this one time...**

No one can claim actual surprise when Hyunjoo is hired to staff the new minister's inauguration. She's capable, looks good in the uniform, and has the right aura of mature gravitas so long as she doesn't have to speak about anything unrelated to work.

They panic anyway.

Hyemin is strictly forbidden to meet Hyunjoo for lunch in the weeks leading up to the event, while Sungah begins to innocuously stop by to check in on Hyunjoo once every day or so; even if her own division is a good three blocks away. Hyunjoo is thankfully docile in the face of these measures, and they go out to celebrate when the inauguration ceremony passes without a hitch.

"Sungah-yah," Hyunjoo waves her chopsticks in her direction. "Are you free next Friday? My boss said he'd raise my pay if you go on a date with him, so I said yes."

Hyuna doesn't talk to Hyunjoo for two weeks after that.

(158 words.)


End file.
